Gillian Giggs- great for kids 3 plus- beautiful and cute drawings for both adults and kids. And it flows- does it flow!
But no matter what "we" like your own kid seems to pick some ridiculous book to read over and over and over again-sometimes (most times) quality isn't an issue. Funny how little minds work!

My favorite book when I was little was a Golden Book called The Monster at The End of This Book it was "narrated" by Grover. When my husband and I were dating we found out that the same book was also his favorite, I can't wait to share it with our children (you know, when we finally have them)! Now that I'm an adult, I Love You Always is one of my favorites for a child.

Anything by Eric Carle was a favorite of the children in the daycare, especially Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See. But other favorites were books by Patricia Polacco, all books by Margaret Wise Brown besides Goodnight Moon, Click Clack Moo, and A Fly Went By-Dr. Seuss-esque. I personally liked the Sweet Pickles books and The Berenstain Bears.

My most favorite book as a little kid was "The Poky Little Pupppy". Like you though, I adored the Dr. Seuss books as well.

As I grew older, any and all books by Shel Silverstein ("Where the Sidewalk Ends", "Light in the Attic") and the "Eloise" series were my favorites.

I forgot one more....Harold and the Purple Crayon. LOVED that book as well.

Sam's favorite books right now are his Dr Seuss board books (especially Mr Brown Can Moo), Harold and his Purple Crayon, Barnyard Dance, and these weird art books that his Gramma bought, which have names like "Brush Mona Lisa's Hair" and possibly the worst text of all time, but he likes to touch the pictures.

My all-time favorite is Where The Wild Things Are. I was a nanny ten years ago and it was Everett's favorite book. I wound up memorizing the book from repeat readings, which meant I could whisper the story to Everett no matter where we were.

My childhood favorites:
A.A. Milne. Not just the Pooh books, but his books of poetry, too ("When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six" are my favorites).
"The Secret Garden," "Stuart Little," "Black Beauty," "Charlotte's Web," "The Little Prince."

Books in the kids' rooms:
The "Toot and Puddle" series. So very sweet, and I love the illustrations.
Anything by Graeme Base, particularly "The Watering Hole," and "The Eleventh Hour."
"Knufflebunny" SO cute.
"Where The Wild Things Are" chokes me up a bit at the end when his food is still warm.
"The Giving Tree" I know some people hate this book but I think it's lovely.
Anything from Sandra Boynton. They're clever and funny and I never get tired of reading them.

I could go on and on and on, though!

Anything by Sandra Boynton is great, my daughter's personal favs are "But not the Hippopotamus" and "Snuggle Puppy"

The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams. And Courdoury Bear, by Don Freeman.

Naughty Nora by I don't know who. Nora was a mouse. She had stairs in her house. The book cover was teal and pink. That's about all I can remember.

I second the Pokey Little Puppy, as well.

DUH! Where the Wild Things Are and The Very Hungry Caterpiller. I also loved the Little Miss and Little Mister books. I had all of them.

Dude, Dr. Seuss is STILL my favorite author. If I had any gardening mojo whatsoever my backyard would be a Seussian landscape.

To your question: Curious George, Blueberries for Sal, anything by Maurice Sendak.

Bridge to Tarabithia and Where the Red Fern Grows were two of my favorite books as a kid. Dr. Suess was fun as well, but I think sharing longer stories that can be told over a series of bedtimes is great fun.

Old Turtle by Douglas Wood.

Jan Brett books... sometimes odd text but great illustrations and she has a great website.

The Giving Tree.

We got a pile of the "Little Monster" books, Richard Scarry and Dr. Seuss in giant cheap lots off ebay to give our kid library a start without breaking the bank.

We almost always finish the evening with Goodnight Moon or Guess How Much I Love You.

Oh, and have you seen the books at iseeme.com?? You personalize them for your baby's name.

The absolute worst children's book I've ever seen is "Don't Call Me Little Bunny"... anybody else with me on this??

Oh, I love this post. Now I'm going to look up the books other people listed that I don't know.....

Hustler counts a book, right?

I have to agree with Chris. Sandra Boynton is my Emilie's favourite author. She loves "Barnyard dance" and makes me read it (or sing it) to her twice before she goes to bed at night.
My 5 year old Alex's favourite author is Robert Munsch. All of his books make him laugh.

When I was very little, my favorite was "Good Night Moon". When I got older I loved "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (this one is especially loved my 3-year-old cousin, Alexander), and of course, everyone's favorite, "Where The Wild Things Are". My mom's favorite to read to me was "The Runaway Bunny". I love reading "Chika Chika Boom Boom" because it has a really nice rhythm and is fun to say. Lastly, when my boyfriend saw what I writing about, he insisted that I mention "Scuffy the Tugboat" and then considered going to the used bookstore to go look for it, so I guess it was pretty important to his 5-year-old self.

Noisy Nora! OMG. Totes Adorbs.

I agree with each and every book above. One book to add is "Love You FOrever" By Robert Munsch. One warning-- LLLOOOTTTSSS of tissues. I haven't been able to get through it without tears. The Byron Barton books are great for chunky picture books too-- lots of boats and trucks...

Gotta jump on the Dr. Seuss bandwagon here - the absolute BEST children's books in the world.

Not too sure about other stuff for when she's really little. I can remember lots of books from grade school, but you're probably not quite ready to stock those yet. Call me when she's about 4.

What? So Shakespeare's MacBeth is not on the kiddie reading list? LOL

I think a lot of the above posters have covered the children's books pretty well. You might also want to look for "stroller books" that you can attach to the stroller so when your kid is old enough, he/she can just pick it up and look at it automatically.

If you are good at making animal sounds, the kids will enjoy the books that much more.

By the way, try to decide how many books you will really buy and how many you will get from the local public library. Also check out things like yard sales (why pay retail?), moving sales, etc. Look at different libraries and see which have the best children's book sections, especially which have the best selections of the cardboard books.

Oh, for laughs, a few of the Dr. Seuss books have been recreated in Latin. We have "Cattus Petasatus," or "The Cat in the Hat" in Latin.

I LOVED the madeline books, by Ludwig Bemelmans. HOWEVER -- one of them deals with her getting her appendix out. I don't remember the actual text but it was something to the effect of how she'd have died if they hadn't gotten it out so quickly. I was OBSESSED with this for years. Whenever I had the slightest tummy cramp at night I'd try to convince my parents that I needed my appendix out.

Another favorite: I Am A Bunny. http://www.amazon.com/Am-Bunny-Golden-Sturdy-Book/dp/0375827781

I still remember the first verse: "I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas. I live in a hollow tree."

Almost forgot... also the "Velveteen Rabbit". That was a fave. Someone mentioned it already.. However, like the Madeline Terror, I was terrified also that I'd get a sickness like the boy in that book, and all my toys would have to get burned. Even though my parents assured me that wouldnt happen, I never wanted to sleep with any of my toys because I was afraid I'd get the scarlet fever and they'd all have to be burned.

I was a cheerful kid.

My son is crazy over anything by Todd Parr. Also, anything from the "Little Critter" series (by Mercer Mayer) is an instant hit around here.

"Guess How Much I Love You" is our favorite one to read together at bedtime. :)

Delurking!

I loved all Dr. Seuss books, and my 16 month old son loves them too. I also loved all of the "Little Critters" books by Mercer Mayer. I had the whole collection. And all of the Little Golden Books are a hit in our house!

I see someone else already mentioned this, but "The Monster at the End of This Book" is SO. GOOD. My cousin and I used to sit together and read it and laugh and laugh when we were younger.

There was also a book with Cookie Monster and a greedy witch who didn't want to share cookies, I think. That one was good too.

My favorite book when I was two was apparently a picture book with no words - my mother, when reading it, had always made up a new story each time to go along with it and I thought it was the BEST EVER. So there's that option too.

Oh! Just remembered: "Owl at Home" and "Small Pig" are two of the greatest children's books ever written. I still love them both.

My favorite as a child was "Goodnight Moon". I insisted on it being read to me every night for quite a while. I have it memorized now. My sister loved the "Gingerbread Man" I think it was a golden book. As I got older I read every single Nancy Drew mystery book that there is. I checked them out of the library like crazy! If you are having a baby shower, you should ask for books instead of cards.

we managed to fill a bookcase in our baby's room before we even thought about where we were going to get a crib or clothes or anything else for her! all my partner's childhood dr suess books are there, plus my copy of the poky little puppy (hello suzieq!), plus giraffes can't dance and a stack of others.

I always liked "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", but I'm guessing that's a no-sale in your household.

We too love books, and this love has been passed on to our son, who is now 2.5 He will sit for hours just flicking through the pages.

Some of his favourite authors are:
Pamela Allen
Mem Fox
They're both Australian authors and awesome. Pamela Allen uses sounds really well in her books.

Actually I could go on, and on and on... you get the picture. :)

The only other thing I would say is if baby ruins a book because he/she loves it that is a good thing not a bad thing. The saddest thing is a children's book in pristine condition.

*steps off soap box*

Wow - looks like I'm a bit late. Most have already mentioned our favorites (me and my daughter), but there is also Little Table, Get Set, Jolly Pocket Postman, No, No, Joan about a naugty kitty but I changed her name to "JoJo" because I thought it sounded better, and lastly, the "Mr." books, perfectly-sized for little hands.

My favorite book was "Go, Dog. Go!" by P.D. Eastman - he was a protege of Dr. Suess, so his writing style is very similar. It was the first book I ever read out loud by myself. (I had probably just memorized it, though, from having it read to me so many times.)

I second the suggestion of "The Monster at the End of This Book" - we had several copies of that book since my sister and I kept accidentally tearing the pages at the end. If you have read it, you will understand.

I am SO happy that people have already mentioned The Monster at the end of this book & Cloudy with a chance of meatballs!!! I have to also throw in: Stand Back!Said the Elephant. I'm Going to Sneeze (let's just say when it happens, the alligators snout is turned inside out & the zeebra says "yikes, I've lost my stripes"). And also Goodnight Gorilla. And Ferdinand (he is supposed to be a ferocious bull in the fighting ring, but all he wants to do is sit & smell the flowers (it has a happy ending)!
I'm sure I will find more when I go home & survey my own bookshelves!

Ooooh, for when she is older, the Ramona Quimby books!

Oooh, oooh, oooh;

My mum is visiting at the moment and reminded me my favourite book would have to have been The Muddle Headed Wombat by Ruth Park. Guessing you won't get that in NY; and the references to a wombat would be somewhat confusing, perhaps- [although generations of Aussie kids have sung about "dashing through the snow" when it's Christmas with no worries- to say nothing of all the children's books that reference squirrels, hedgehogs, deer, badgers or anteaters, I suppose]. I also loved the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George and on the Dr Seuss front, Are You my Mother? (We still say in our family, "that's not a (whatever object), that's a snort!") and Ferdinand the Bull. We also loved Johnathan Livingstone Seagull and The Little Prince. Can I also put in a vote for The Story of Ping (a little yellow duck who lived on the Yangtzee river)?

Great topic!

I have been writing down the suggestions so that I can find them for my grandchildren.There have been some great ideas for books. My favorite when I was a kid was MUGGINS MOUSE by Marjorie Barrows. When she is older I would recommend Aesop's Fables. Get the one illustrated by Charles Santore because the pictures are so beautiful.

I spent a long time working in a Children's Book Store. These were the most popular at Story Hour:

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

What Shall We Do With The Boo Hoo Baby? Board Book, Cressida Cowell

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

Corduroy by Don Freeman

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Madeline by Ludwig Belemans

The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Todd Parr! Todd Parr! I was all worried as I scrolled down, but fortunately, Jenn mentioned him too.

Absolutely wonderful books for preschoolers -- bright colors, sweet but not saccharine messages about diversity and family and love, and nice language.

Right now, my 13 month old loves "lift the flap" books and anything with pictures of babies.

I just happened upon this post and I realize I'm a bit late but I didn't see "Ferdinad the Bull" or "Ping" on the list or the Olivia the pig books [so cute]

And for older kids, "James and the Giant Peach" is a must.

My 2 year old has to be read "Old Hat New Hat", and "When the Elephant Walks" every night before bed. And we like to look at Karen Katz's books, cute pictures!

I love "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norman Juster and "The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles" by Julie Andrews. Also one called "No Flying in the House". Those are great for grade school kids.

hi there. brantastic from flickr, totally late to the game, here, but wanted to offer some suggestions, as i read to two-year-olds every single day. :o)

some of these were already mentioned, but hey.

1. "the monster at the end of this book" so. good.

2. every sandra boynton is pretty awesome, but i really love "blue hat green hat" and "but not the hippopotamus"

3. one of my favorites to read out loud is still "the cat in the hat"

4. the olivia the pig books, for sure. funny and with great artwork.

5. "what do you do with a kangaroo?" by mercer mayer.

6. "brown bear brown bear, what do you see?" and the related books are awesome because children pick up on them quickly and can recite them in no time!

7. "chicka chicka boom boom" is AWESOME. so rhythmic and fun. i often do it as part of guitar time, because the kids like to tap the rhythm with me on the underside of the guitar.

i'll stop there for now. there is so much good stuff out there.

oh, there is also a book called "please, puppy, please" which i think is the most annoying book ever to have to read aloud. just saying.

I have long list but at the top of the list is

If I Found a Wistful Unicorn (By far my favorite book of all time. I had the book long before the kidlets)

Where The Wild Things Are

I'll Love You Forever

The David Books by David Shannon (His whole series is amazing)

It's So Amazing and It's Perfectly Normal are excellent books for a little later on that covers the tough questions. We started with these books when our kidlets were a year old or so and they got to learn all the details as they got old enough to recognize the differences.

This is the greatest idea for a first birthday party. Everyone brings their favorite kid book with a nice note in the front about why that book was chosen. Then your little person has a great assortment of books to choose from for the next year.

Enjoy prepping for Mamahood.

Cindi